Driver circuits using bipolar junction transistors have been used to drive electrical loads in the past. However, such bipolar junction transistor based driver circuits cannot effectively be used to drive loads requiring high currents of 2 amperes or more. Driver circuits capable of driving inductive and resistive loads with high currents are required in a variety of industrial applications, including electronically controlled heavy machinery. The term "low side" driver circuit is indicative of a circuit which drives a load by sinking a current through the load. It is also desirable to provide diagnostic output information from driver circuits, which diagnostic output information may be utilized by a digital controller. For example, such diagnostic output information is particularly desirable for detecting fault conditions such as a short circuit condition or an open circuit condition.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.